The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has unveiled a new medium-duty commercial drive tire for demanding city and regional applications.

Available in six sizes and load ranges, the Goodyear Unisteel G182 RSD tire is designed with a deep (28/32nd-inch) open lug pattern for handling in wet or snowy conditions. The tire also has a graduated tie-bar on the shoulder that provides added strength and traction as well as reduced irregular wear.

“The graduated tie-bar is an outstanding feature on this new tire,” said Steve McClellan, Goodyear’s vice president of commercial tire systems. “It allows the tire to achieve the long tread life of a closed-shoulder design and the increased traction of an open-shoulder design. The graduated tie-bar also helps the tire retain its ‘like-new’ appearance throughout the life of the tire.”

These features mean added mileage, according to Goodyear. “In city and regional fleet testing, we’ve found the G182 RSD delivers 12% more miles to removal, compared to its predecessor,” McClellan said. “And, thanks to G182’s staggered lug design, the new tire is 10% quieter.”

The G182 RSD is perfectly suited for demanding regional work where tires take a beating from constant scrubbing and curbing, he said. “Regional trucking is a very tough application for tires. We’ve used the latest compounds and tread-design analysis to create a tire that we feel leads the industry. In addition, a robust casing allows the tire to be retreaded multiple times to lower costs for our customers.”

As part of Goodyear’s introduction, the company is offering G182 pre-cure retreads – available in early 2006 – so customers can use this tread pattern as a first retread.